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We’re always looking for ways to live healthier and happier lives. You may be surprised to learn how much of your overall health and wellbeing actually relies on having a healthy gut. Using essential oils for gut health can help your body function at its best.
Your gut and your brain are so connected that some scientists refer to the gut as your body’s second brain. With so much riding on it, you want to do everything you can to keep things running smoothly.
Essential oils for gut health can make a huge difference in how you feel and live your daily life. Here’s how!
Why Does a Healthy Gut Matter?
Your gut is responsible for so much more than just handling the food you eat. It’s home to a microbiome made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other helpful microbes. A healthy gut contributes to better digestion, a stronger immune system, and even your mental health.
When there’s an imbalance between the healthy and unhealthy microbes in your intestines, problems arise. You’re more likely to struggle with weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and other disorders.
How to Use Essential Oils for Gut Health
When you’re dealing with health problems, it’s important to consult a medical professional before experimenting with solutions for yourself. Although essential oils have historically been used to improve digestive issues, used incorrectly they may cause additional problems.
Different essential oils have different uses and benefits. Here are some of the best essential oils for gut health.
Peppermint Oil Eases Symptoms
When it comes to digestion, peppermint is definitely the most popular. In addition to relaxing the smooth muscles of the intestines and relieving pressure from gas buildup, it also helps ease the symptoms of acid reflux. If you’re suffering from heartburn, you can try swapping your antacid for a couple of drops of peppermint oil in a glass of warm water.
If you’re not interested in actually ingesting essential oils, here’s another option. Dilute a few drops of peppermint essential oil in a teaspoon of either olive or coconut oil. Rub the mixture on your abdomen using a slow and gentle clockwise motion. It’s important to remember to dilute it before using it on your skin!
Peppermint helps balance out your microbiome as well, allowing your gut biome to coexist more peacefully. Because of this, and its relaxing effect on your digestive muscles, some people have found that it can ease some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Other Oils Soothe and Aid Digestion
Cumin, lemon balm, and coriander oils are also good for soothing IBS symptoms.
Clove essential oil is another option for helping with digestion. Like peppermint, it also helps to relax your intestinal muscles.
It also helps reduce inflammation in your gut lining and curbs the growth of unhealthy microorganisms in your gut. Clove will relieve nausea, bloating, and diarrhea, plus rebalance your gut microbiome.
Some Oils Help Stimulate Healthy Digestion
Cardamom, tarragon, and ginger essential oils are often used for their ability to stimulate the production of gastric juices.
Having the right amount of stomach acid and bile in your system can help keep everything running smoothly and prevent constipation.
Best Pairings of Essential Oils for Gut Health
If you’re trying out essential oils for gut health for the first time, you may not know which essential oils to buy. There are so many of them out there and each oil has individual benefits, as well as added benefits when combined with other oils.
Picking up an essential oil set (we recommend this set that comes with 18 different oils to try) lets you experiment with different oils and pairings. This way, you can figure out what works for you and what you like!
Pairing essential oils helps create powerful changes, especially for gut health. Here are some combos to try out!
Rose & Thyme
When your gut bacteria become imbalanced (a condition called dysbiosis), it can lead to serious health issues. You need to reduce the overgrowth without killing off the healthy bacteria.
Thyme and rose essential oils are sources of thymol and geraniol. That means they help build a healthy and balanced microbiome!
Cardamom & Clove
Cardamom and clove are already a pair that goes hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to tasty winter spice blends. As it turns out, their benefits go beyond their scent pairing.
Cardamom is a member of the ginger family. It has antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties that can protect your digestive system.
Clove, as we discussed above, has powerful antimicrobial properties. It’s known to reduce overgrowths of damaging Candida yeast within the microbiome. In fact, researchers are looking into its antifungal properties to create an over-the-counter antifungal treatment!
Ginger & Peppermint
If you’re putting together essential oils for gut health, then you can’t leave out this ultimate combination. When combined, peppermint and ginger can be inhaled as an easy treatment for nausea. Since nausea accompanies so many digestive issues, this is an essential combo!
On its own, peppermint has been lauded by researchers for its efficacy against the symptoms of IBS. Similarly, ginger has been recognized for its protective properties against ulcers.
Seriously, if you’re only looking to get two oils, get ginger and peppermint.
Tarragon & Fennel
Tarragon and fennel are both effective digestive stimulants. Although they come from different plant families, they both contain estragole and share soothing properties and antispasmodic effects.
Please be careful when using these essential oils. Estragole is known to have potentially toxic effects when it’s used internally.
Getting the dosage right is essential, so it’s better to use this pairing topically and in limited amounts.
Your digestive system plays such a huge role in making sure your body’s other systems are functioning effectively.
Using essential oils for gut health supports so much more than just digestion. From your immune system to your mental wellbeing, health starts in your gut.
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